School safety issue: Treating student mental disorders

Elaborate security vestibules and locks will not address the biggest school safety issue, says Port Jervis school board member Roger Kalin.

Jessica Cohen

Elaborate security vestibules and locks will not address the biggest school safety issue, says Port Jervis school board member Roger Kalin.

He brought back unsettling findings from the Safe School, Safe Student Conference, sponsored by the New York State School Board Association (NYSSBA) in Albany on March 9.

Only 1 in 2.5 million students dies a violent death in schools, he said, and most violent deaths result from score-settling, not mass shootings.

However, where violence germinates, he said, is among the 1 in 5 students who have diagnosable mental health disorders.

To better address these mostly untreated psychological disorders, the NYSSBA is now lobbying to be able to bill school psychological counseling to Medicaid.

"I was skeptical until I read the statistic elsewhere. I didn't realize the extent of emotional trouble," said Kalin, who teaches English in Goshen and has been teaching for 25 years. He also noted that those most likely to be arrested for violent crime are between the ages of 12 and 20.

Recognizing students with disorders is critical, he said, especially since 60-90 percent of them receive no treatment, and most get their treatment in school.

Kalin said students are important sources of information about one another's distress.

"Kids need to feel assured of confidentiality if they report what they see," said Kalin. "Shooters always give clues. It's chilling. It makes my hair stand up. They often write essays" referring to their violent plans.

Though school assailants have no "standard profile," Kalin said, Columbine High School shooters Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold had both done school assignments that depicted their plans, with perpetrators resembling them.

"Interest in guns and violent videos could be meaningless," said Kalin, "but adults should be aware and alert others, particularly counselors, social workers, and psychologists."

Kalin listed other signs of distress, such as declines in grades and cognitive ability, increased absences, behavioral changes, anger, and isolation — tending to be alone in social places such as the cafeteria and halls.

Kalin noted that Port Jervis has

useful programs to prevent bullying, such as Rachel's Challenge in the high school, for revealing and addressing social difficulties, and "bucket-fillers" in the elementary schools, in which students write positive notes to each other.

However, he said, "psychological services are often not offered to troubled students."

More funding would be available for treatment if schools could bill Medicaid for psychological counseling, but 75 percent of school psychologists are ineligible because of credentialing limits. Eliminating that restriction would make $100 million in Medicaid money available for counseling of Medicaid-eligible students.

Rather than having armed guards in schools, Kalin said NYSSBA is also lobbying for changes that would make school resource officers more affordable. The SRO is a specially trained police officer who visits classes and teaches safety and crime prevention and is also available for conferences and criminal investigations.

"They provide a positive image of law enforcement," Kalin said.

To make hiring SROs more affordable, the NYSSBA is lobbying to provide them with a "211 waiver" that allows state employees to retire and keep their pension while working and earning a salary.

Another suggestion made at the conference was to familiarize emergency responders with school buildings, providing offices for them to use to do paperwork, Kalin said.

While the state made funds available for security precautions such as security vestibules and locks, which Port Jervis already has, Kalin said, "How about investing in prevention? When I see troubled kids, it's like they go through every day with an emotional toothache no one can do anything about."